


Stars and Expectations

by paladxns



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Homesickness, Implied First Kiss, M/M, My first work for the fandom!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 09:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7634989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paladxns/pseuds/paladxns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith frowned. He pursed his lips, not daring to look over at Lance. </p><p>“Why do you care so much? Why do you remember all of this stuff?” Keith asked, fingers curling as he lowered his brow. A bubble of hope swelled in his chest in anticipation of Lance’s potential way of answering the question, though he chastised himself for it mentally. (There’s literally no way, Keith chanted, he hates you.)</p><p>Keith counted fifteen seconds of silence and two of Lance’s heavy breaths.</p><p>“Because you’re all I’ve ever been compared to,” Lance admitted. “People hand out expectations like candy. I’ve got tons of ‘em, but they just so happen to come in the form of- surprise- you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars and Expectations

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! :) As this is my debut piece as a writer for this fandom, I apologize for any potential OOC-ness. All kudos and comments are greatly, greatly appreciated! Thank you so much. 
> 
> [Dedicated to a friend!]

“I’ve always wanted to travel through space,” Lance mused softly, as his gaze swept over the vast expanse of stars before them. 

He and Keith were laying down, sprawled comfortably atop one of the larger balconies on the Castle of Lions, which was landed on a planet that- according to Hunk and Pidge- had an atmosphere rather similar to Earth’s. With the inky darkness stretching as far as the eye could see, but with twinkling specks of bright, burning light generously peppering the sky, it was impossible _not_ to feel some semblance of… calm.

What was _more_ impossible about the situation was that Keith was enjoying it with Lance, and Lance alone- _and_ they had made it at least twenty minutes without verbally ripping each other apart.

Keith drew in a long, slow breath, only to sharply release it in the form of a snort once Lance piped up- albeit quietly.

“You? Really? I never would have guessed,” he drawled in response, teasing sarcasm dripping from his words, “I’ve always wondered why you were studying to become a pilot.” Keith, with his hands behind his head, spared the paladin beside him a brief glance… only to find Lance’s lips twisted downward in some sort of restrained frown.

A moment of silence elapsed.

“I’m surprised you even noticed,” Lance responded curtly, _quietly,_ and almost _bitterly._ The sour inflection of his words was hardly detectable, but to Keith- to _Keith,_ who already came to terms with the fact that he spent an _absurd_ amount of time _noticing_ Lance- it couldn’t have been more painfully present. The Red Paladin’s gaze hardened.

“I’m not following,” he falsely claimed, with his brows slightly drawn downward. If his initial thoughts were anywhere near correct, he _was_ following. Lance puffed out something akin to a dry laugh- a singular, sardonic ‘ _hah.’_

“M’just saying that I’m surprised that you even knew I was trying to be a pilot,” Lance explained, as if it were the simplest concept in the world. There was something deprecating in his words, and it rubbed Keith the wrong way for a reason that was well beyond him.

Except… it _wasn’t._

“That’s kinda dumb,” Keith stated, rather bluntly. “Of course I knew. What happened to, y’know, being _rivals?_ All neck and neck, or whatever.” His inquiry was paired with a loose swirl of a gloved hand in the air above them, as if to emphasize his point. From the corner of his eye, Keith spotted Lance’s halfhearted little shrug against the sleek metal panels of the Castle.

“That’s exactly what it is to you: _whatever,”_ Lance said, trying to punctuate the statement with a rise in his voice- something to display that he was _amused._ Yet, while the way he gritted out the words indicated that he wanted to drop the topic… Keith wanted to do no such thing. Clearly, something was bugging him, and _Hell_ if he wasn’t going going to try to resolve it.

“Lance,” Keith managed, though he was wary and suspicious and so, _so_ much more. It was rare that the two ever found themselves in easy water when they were with the others, but alone… When _alone,_ Keith dared to hope that there was something different. It was a good different- but that, right then, was _far_ from being ‘good different.’

“Keith,” Lance responded simply. The Red Paladin pushed himself to sit upright as he faced Lance, one palm pressing into the metal behind him to support his weight. Lance only remained lying down, gazing upward at the stars.

“Would you just stop being so damn _cryptic_ and _talk_ to me already?” Keith said, sounding the slightest but exasperated. He liked knowing things- and when he _didn’t,_ it made him… uneasy. _Uncertainty_ made him _uneasy_. As someone who faced a lot of uncertainty in their lifetime, and knew that he was going to face even _more_ , Keith took immense gratitude in the company and presence of the Paladins and Coran and the princess. They were around, and dependable, and he _knew_ they were going to be there.

Since the incident with Pidge wanting out of Team Voltron, he’d been hesitant to make any real connections. And yet… there he was.

 _Absurdly_ close to the other Paladins.

Absurdly close to _Lance_ , who endlessly claimed to hate his very being.

There was a little clench in his stomach at a certain four-letter word. It was a reminder of just where he and Lance _really_ stood (from Lance’s perspective, at least): they were _rivals._

No more, no less. Keith went along with it, despite not exactly understanding the complex dynamic, _mostly_ because it was so easy to bicker with Lance. Somehow, the Blue Paladin knew every button to push. That, and Keith could never find it in himself to step down from a challenge.

So when Lance suddenly dismisses the rivals-thing that he _endlessly_ pursued in Keith’s time of really, really knowing him… Keith borderline panicked. He was _scared_ inside. It was bad enough that the possibility of losing those who were closer to him than his blood- losing his new _family_ , his _team-_ was so high, but when Lance suddenly shifts in character and shows a hint of being _fickle hearted,_ Keith can’t help but worry.

For multiple reasons.

It was unreasonable to a certain extent, but that didn’t matter much. What _did_ matter was the way that Lance didn’t even bat an eyelash at the way Keith pressed him into explaining himself. He only stared up at the stars, looking worlds away, but also closer to Keith than ever.

So he sucked in a breath, letting his chest rise, before pushing it out slowly and turning his eyes to a particularly bright dot in the sky.

“When I… when _we,_ ” Keith began, making it a point to include him, “rescued Shiro, I _did_ remember you.”

“As a cargo pilot.”

“That’s not the point, Lance,” Keith snapped, folding his legs and slumping forward. “I remembered _you_. Because on the first day of school, you were running around to literally _everyone_ and introducing yourself.”

“I don’t see where this is going,” Lance said, having furrowed his brow. Keith delivered a slap to his upper arm, though it earned a sharp hiss in response. “ _Dude_ , what the hell?”

“It means I noticed you,” Keith huffed, “of-fucking- _course_ I did.”

“You took one look at me, and _walked away_ , asshole.”

“What _else_ was I supposed to do?”

“Tell me your name, say hi, _something_ other than immediately turn around,” Lance listed, raising his fingers with each noted reason.

Keith frowned. He pursed his lips, not daring to look over at Lance.

“Why do you care so much? Why do you _remember_ all of this stuff?” Keith asked, fingers curling as he lowered his brow. A bubble of hope swelled in his chest in anticipation of Lance’s potential way of answering the question, though he chastised himself for it mentally. _(There’s literally no way_ , Keith chanted, _he_ hates _you.)_

Keith counted fifteen seconds of silence and two of Lance’s heavy breaths.

“Because _you’re_ all I’ve _ever_ been compared to,” Lance admitted. “People hand out expectations like _candy._ I’ve got tons of ‘em, but they just so happen to come in the form of- surprise- _you.”_

When Keith finally looked over at him, his eyes were screwed shut. Before he could ask for clarification on a matter he _thought_ he was starting to understand, Lance continued.

“‘ _Keith_ could have done that.’ ‘You’re only a fighter pilot because _Keith_ washed out.’ ‘I bet _Keith_ would have been way better at this.’ _Keith_ this, _Keith_ that- even when you disappeared off of the face of the Earth, you _followed_ me around! Iverson wouldn’t let me live it down!”

And slowly, the pieces fell into place. Keith remained silent as Lance kept talking, _and_ he remained seated when Lance got up to pace the floor of the balcony.

“ _That’s_ why I try so hard. Because you _effortlessly_ just _are_ everything I’ve desperately tried to achieve, and it’s not _fair._ And it doesn’t help that you’re so- so fucking _noble_ whenever we’re in battle and--”

“I’m not noble,” Keith interjected, “I just do what has to be done.”

“Uh, _news flash,_ buddy- that’s kinda what being noble _is,”_ Lance said, before throwing his arms up, utterly _exasperated._ “See? _See?_ You don’t even try!”

Keith stared at Lance, blank-faced and silent… Though _endless_ amounts of comforting words swarmed his mind. He was just unable to summon his voice to articulate any of them. After another beat of silence, the Blue Paladin dropped his hands to hang limply at his sides.

“ _Home_ was the only place I could _escape_ you. And now? _Now,_ I can’t even _go_ home,” he added quietly, hands now tucked into the pockets of his jacket as he hunched his shoulders and turned his back away from Keith.

He was homesick.

Lance was _homesick_.

And Keith’s presence was only making it _worse,_ apparently. The sick feeling in his gut grew exponentially, forming a bitter lump in his throat.

“No wonder you hate me,” Keith mumbled, mostly to himself, as he rose to his feet with the intent of leaving Lance alone. Though he wanted to do _something,_ he found himself incapable- Lance said it himself, he just wanted an _escape._

Keith took one last glance at Lance, who remained staring up at the stars, before pivoting on his heel and turning towards the entrance to the castle.

“...I don’t even _hate you_. I _wish_ I could hate you, Keith,” Lance said, his voice washing over the other paladin like Earth’s tides. He froze mid step, reconsidered everything he was about to do… then turned around to face Lance, who was sitting on the lip of the metal deck, with his legs hanging over the edge.

“ _I_ would hate me if I were you,” he assured Lance. The Blue Paladin snorted.

“That’s one way of apologizing, sure. I’m _trying_ to hate you- trust me. You’re just... actually _really_ hard to hate. It’s easy to _argue_ with you, but it’s kind of  _impossible_ for me to hate you.”

There it was again. The bubble of _hope_ that Keith allowed to grow, despite knowing it was going to inevitably _burst._

“You’re confusing. Has anyone ever told you that?” Keith said, as he slowly- _tentatively_ \- made his way across the open balcony to stand beside Lance. The smallest smile tipped his lips upwards.

“Yeah, _you_ have,” he said. “So are you gonna sit down or what?”

Still no eye contact. Still _nothing_ that was going to betray how Lance was _really_ feeling. Keith was in no place to criticize him for not being straightforward about such a matter, but even as he claimed a seat beside Lance, the other paladin hadn’t uttered a word.

It was bothering Keith- the _uncertainty_ \- but h decided to brush off the issue in favor of simply enjoying the company beneath the endless canopy of stars. They seemed to be brighter, for some reason.

“Hey,” Lance piped up, moments later.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry. About… earlier. It’s just--”

“Yeah, I get it. Homesickness. You miss Earth. They all do, too, y’know.”

Lance made a face, but Keith could only see it from the corner of his eyes.

“That makes it sound like you _don’t,”_ Lance pointed out. When Keith shrugged a shoulder, Lance only looked more _confused_. “You’re telling me you don’t miss Earth? _At all?”_

Again, a shrug.

“I don’t have much to miss.”

“The food?” Lance proffered.

Keith made an “eh” motion with his hand.

“The sun?”

“...I lived in a desert.”

“And yet, you are paler than like, three whole alien moons.”

“Oh, my _God._ ”

“Seriously, though! The ocean? Grass, _trees_ and _birds?”_

“A _desert,_ Lance.”

“Duly noted. But what about your famil--”

...Lance cut himself off. Keith winced.

“...Oh,” was all that Lance said afterwards. Keith nodded slowly, leaning back on his palms as he stared up at the sky. A little knife stabbed him in the stomach, but Keith willed away the twisting feeling in favor of retaining his placid disposition. One word, six letters, three syllables. They had an unpleasant effect.

“I’m sorry,” Lance mumbled, hunching his shoulders as he did so. Keith could _feel_ blue eyes watching him intensely, though he hadn't ripped his own eyes from the stars.

“It’s fine,” Keith said, prior to swallowing thickly and letting his gaze flicker over to Lance for half- no, a _third_ \- of a second. “Don’t really need a family that doesn’t exist when I’ve got Team Voltron.”

It could have come off as insensitive, seeing as Lance had a _real_ family back on _Earth,_ but it didn’t seem as if it was interpreted it in an offensive manner. Instead, Lance’s smile- the all too familiar grin that Keith has spent a little too much time staring at in the past- returned… but it wasn’t directed at the sky. The Red Paladin was able to determine that much with the aid of his peripherals.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about going to space,” Lance noted quietly, _still_ watching him intently- but before Keith could say that the assertion about travelling through space had already been made, Lance spoke up again. “ _And_ about the stars. I had those glow in the dark plastic stickers in my bedroom, and I’d dream about seeing the real thing up close.”

Keith turned his head to properly face Lance.

“...And are they living up to your expectations?”

Lance shrugged.

“I dunno. I’m a li’l too busy looking at the ones in your eyes.”

“I--” Keith stammered, having almost _choked_ on air. “You- you can’t just… Oh, you are so fucking _lame.”_

“ _You’re_ lame.”

“That comeback was lame. When did you come up with it- _five years ago_?”

“Your hair is lame. When did you get it- t _he eighties?_ ”

“Would you just shut up already?”

“Why don’t you make me?”

…

After a moment’s pause and a brief lapse of better judgement, Keith threw caution to the _stars_ and made Lance _shut up._ The solution was temporary, as Lance rocketed back in talking a mile a minute within seconds, but it was nothing that _another_ kiss couldn’t fix.

And, to top it all of? Keith could safely say that _both_ kisses lived up to all of his hopeful expectations.


End file.
